Cap with safety shield

ABSTRACT

A safety closure to deter children from opening containers used to store potentially dangerous substances. The closure includes a screw cap or snap-on cap with a fastening portion on the outer surface of its skirt for slidably mounting a shielding sleeve around the skirt. When the closure is in locked position the shielding sleeve surrounds the skirt and covers gripping portion on the outer surface of the skirt. When it is desired to open the closure the shielding sleeve must be manipulated upwardly in a predetermined manner to expose the gripping portion on the skirt. The cap is then removed by holding the cap by the gripping portion and manipulating the skirt.

Unites States Patent [72] Inventor Donald F. Armour Bloomfield, Conn. 72

Attorneys-James C. Logomasini, Michael J. Murphy and [21] Appl. No.

[22] Filed Jan. 2, 1970 [45] Patented Dec. 21,197]

[73] Assignee Monsanto Company St. Louis, Mo.

Neal E. Willis ABSTRACT: A safety closure to deter children from opening containers used to store potentially dangerous substances. The closure includes a screw cap or snap-on cap with a fastening portion on the outer surface of its skirt for slidably mounting a shielding sleeve around the skirt. When the closure is in [54] CAP WITH SAFETY SHIELD 3 claims4nrawing Figs locked position the shielding sleeve surrounds the skirt and 215/9, covers gripping portion on the outer surface of the skirt. When it is desired to open the closure the shielding sleeve must be manipulated upwardly in a predetermined manner to ex the gripping portion on the skirt. The ca pose p IS then removed by holding the cap by the gripping portion and manipulating the L r am m m m a n url s AMGZ 3 B 4 5 a n m u w m s L m C d L d h F H. N s U o in 2 w mm m. m a M A PATENTED BEC'ZIBYH (3 628 6 T9 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. DONALD E ARMOUR ATTORNE Y INVENTOR.

SHEET '2 OF 2 PATENTED M821 I97! FIG. 3

Mail DONALD F. ARMOUR BY E Z 7 ATTORNEY CAP WITH SAFETY SHIELD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a closure for a container, and more specifically to a safety closure for a container used to store medicaments and other potentially dangerous substances.

2. Description of the Prior Art Medicines, drugs and other potentially dangerous substances such as insecticides, weed killers, chemicals, fungicides, harsh detergents and the like must occasionally be stored in containers kept in a home. This creates a hazard if the containers are accessible to children. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a closure fora container which can be readily opened by an adult but which requires more manual dexterity and coordination than can normally be achieved by a child. Many of the safety closures proposed in the past have suffered from various defects. For example, the secret to opening a container is frequently so simple that a child can accidentally discover it. Another problem is that safety closures which depend solely on the strength of the user may be unsatisfactory if the closure must be opened by an elderly person or someone weakened by illness. Many of the closures previously designed embody complicated mechanical structures having numerous parts which make them too expensive and untrustworthy for general application. Still other closures are too difficult to refasten to the container and consequently users have a tendency not to fully secure the safety mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Now there has been developed a new safety closure hereto unknown to the prior art which resolves the problems described above.

Accordingly the main object of the present invention is to provide an improved safety closure for a container.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety closure which can be used on containers having conventional neck finishes.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a safety closure having a self-contained safety mechanism entirely associated with the closure itself, without any dependence on special container finishes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety closure which can be mounted on a container by means of conventional capping equipment, without requiring any rotational orientation of the closure with respect to the container.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

These and other objects are obtained by providing a safety closure for an opening in a container comprising a cap to cover the opening of the container, the cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from the top wall, the skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining the opening, the skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface, a shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of the skirt and covering the gripping portion, fastening means to fasten the sleeve to the skirt, the fastening means being associated with an inner surface of the sleeve and an outer surface of the skirt, the fastening means permitting upward movement of the sleeve with respect to the skirt to expose the gripping portion while retaining the sleeve fastened to the skirt, and securing means for releasably securing the cap to the container, the securing means being disengageable by gripping the gripping portion and manipulating the skirt.

The shielding sleeve, which hides the gripping portion on the skirt of the cap, can be slidably fastened to the cap in various ways. The skirt of the cap may have a projection on its outer surface lying between an upper and lower flange on the inner surface of the sleeve, or vice versa. Alternatively, the shielding sleeve and the skirt may have a first set of cooperating threads oriented in a rotational direction opposite to a second set of cooperating threads on the inner surface of the skirt and the outer surface of the neck of a container. Another alternative embodiment includes a lug on the inner surface of the shielding sleeve for movement within a channel on the outer surface of the skirt or vice versai. Still another embodiment includes a lug on the inner surface of the shielding sleeve adapted to move under a flange extending partially around the outer surface of the skirt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In describing the overall invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a side view section of a preferred embodiment of a safety closure with a shielding sleeve in locked position on a container; and

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are side view sections of alternative embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the drawings there is shown in FIG. I a safety closure 10 for an opening in a container 12 comprising a cap 14 and a shielding sleeve 16.

The cap 14 has a generally circular planar top wall 18 and a cylindrical skirt 20 depending from the underside of the top wall 18. The skirt 20 surrounds a neck 22 of the container 12. The skirt has a gripping portion 24 on its outer surface.

The resilient shielding sleeve 116 has a generally cylindrical configuration and surrounds the outer surface of skirt 20. When the shielding sleeve 16 is in a safety position it covers gripping portion 24 as illustrated in FIG. ll.

A means for slidably fastening the shielding sleeve 116 to the skirt 20 is provided such as an upper flange 26 and lower flange 28 on the inner surface of the sleeve 16. A cooperating projection 30 is on the outer surface of skirt 20 near its upper edge. The projection 30 is adapted to remain between the upper flange 26 and lower flange 28 when the sleeve 16 is moved up and down with respect to skirt 20. A holding member 32 may be provided on the inner surface of sleeve 16 between the upper and lower flanges 26 and 28. The holding member does not project inwardly as much as the flanges 26 and 28, but is adapted to ride over projection 30 when lifting force is applied to sleeve 16 and resilient sleeve I6 flexes outwardly. When the sleeve 16 is lifted up to expose gripping portion 24, the holding member 32 will prevent sleeve ll6 from sliding down along skirt 20 to interfere with the user's manipulation of the gripping portion 24 in removing cap 14. A head 34 may be provided to cooperate with lower flange 28 and keep the sleeve 116 from sliding up along skirt 20 unintentionally. The bead 34 may be sized so as to control the difficul ty of lifting sleeve t6. The sleeve 116 is freely rotatable around skirt 20 when in the safety position for covering gripping portion 24.

A means for releasably securing the cap 14 to container neck 22 is provided such as the threads 36 on the inner surface of skirt 2t) and cooperating threads 38 on the outer surface of neck 22.

The mouth of the container I2 may be sealed by a flexible circular sealing ring 40 depending from the underside of top wall 18. The sealing ring 40 is adapted to rest on the upper surface ofthe neck 22 when the skirt 20 is secured to neck 22.

An alternative embodiment for a fastening means 41 to fasten sleeve 42 to skirt 44 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The inner surface of skirt 42 has a lug 46 projecting inwardly for cooperation with a channel 48 on the outer surface of skirt 44. The channel has a horizontal section 50, an adjoining vertical section 52 and an adjoining horizontal section 54. To expose gripping portion 56 on the outer surface of skirt 44, sleeve 42 is rotated to move lug 46 through section 50, then the sleeve 42 is lifted to move lug 46 through vertical channel section 52, and finally sleeve 42 is rotated again to rest lug 46 within channel section 54. Gripping portion 56 of the skirt 44 may now be manipulated to remove cap 43. A securing means 611 OIOIS 0734 comprises projection 58 on the inner surface of skirt 44 for movement within slot 60 on the outer surface of container neck 62. The slot 60 is horizontal and is interrupted by an inlet passageway 64 through which projection 58 may pass to remove cap 43 from container neck 62.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment for the fastening means 66 and securing means 68. The fastening means 66 comprises a left-handed thread combination 70 on the outer surface of skirt 72 and on the inner surface of sleeve 74. The securing means 68 comprises a right-handed thread combination 76 on the inner surface of skirt 72 and the outer surface of neck 78. Therefore, to remove cap 80, a user must first rotate sleeve 74 in a counterclockwise direction to expose gripping portion 82 on the outer surface of skirt 72. Then the user must hold skirt 72 by gripping portion 82 and rotate the skirt in a clockwise direction to remove cover 80 from neck 78.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the fastening means and securing means 86. The fastening means comprises a thread 88 on the lower portion of the inner surface of sleeve 90, and a thread 92 on the upper portion of the outer surface of skirt 94. The sleeve 84 is freely rotatable about skirt 94 when it is in the safety position and covers gripping portion 96 on the outer surface of skirt 94. In order to expose gripping portion 96, sleeve 84 must be lifted and rotated simultaneously to engage threads 88 with threads 92. The sleeve 84 may be provided with a planar top wall 83 for added protection in preventing mischievous hands from touching the cap 97. The securing means 86 includes an inwardly projecting lug 98 on the inner surface of skirt 94. The lug 98 extends horizontally beneath a flange 91 which extends horizontally around neck 93 of the container. The flange 91 is interrupted by a slot 95 through which lug 98 may pass to remove cap 97.

In general, the preferred materials which find particular use in this invention are plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. The resilient characteristics of polyethylene, polyurethane and polypropylene are especially suitable for use in a resilient shielding sleeve such as that described with respect to FIG. 1. The cap material does not have to be as resilient as the skirt material and therefore materials such as polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride could also be used in the cap. The present invention finds utility in safety closures for containers which must be used to store potentially dangerous substances. The several embodiments described for the fastening means all depend on the principal that the shielding sleeve must first be manipulated in a particular sequential manner with respect to the skirt in order to be lifted upwardly to expose the gripping portion on the outer surface of the skirt. The cap cannot be removed unless the gripping portion is exposed and the user holds the gripping portion while manipulating the skirt to disengage the mechanism securing the cap to the container. The various combinations of the means for fastening the sleeve to the skirt and securing the skirt to a neck ofa container can be altered or combined to increase or decrease the difficulty of removal of the cap. Therefore, a user must know previously the combination of movements necessary to lift the sleeve and expose the gripping portion. In some of the described embodiments the sleeve is freely rotatable about the skirt and consequently rotation of the sleeve will not expose the gripping portion.

The closure assembly may be mounted with conventional capping equipment. Furthermore, because the entire fastening means is self-contained on the sleeve and skirt portions of the closure, the molding operation is simplified and the cooperating members can be more easily molded within the required tolerances without any dependence on tolerance variations in the container dimensions.

Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that many variations and modifications of the details of construction and combination and arrangement of parts herein described will be obvious to those skilled in t he art and ma be carried out without departing from the spirit and scope o the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. A safety closure for an opening in a container comprising:

a. a cap to cover the opening of said container, said cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from said top wall, said skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining said opening, said skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface;

b. a shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of said skirt and covering said gripping portion;

c. securing means comprising a second set of cooperating threads on the inner surface of said skirt and on the outer surface of the container wall defining said opening for releasably securing said cap to said container; and

d. fastening means to fasten said sleeve to said skirt, said fastening means comprising a first set of cooperating threads on the inner surface of said sleeve and on the outer surface of said skirt, said first set of threads and said second set of threads being oriented such that rotation of said sleeve with respect to said skirt to expose said gripping portion must be in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said skirt with respect to said container to remove said cap.

2. A safety closure for an opening in a container comprising:

a. a cap to cover the opening of said container, said cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from said top wall, said skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining said opening, said skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface;

b. a shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of said skirt and covering said gripping portion;

c. securing means for releasably securing said cap to said container, said securing means being disengageable by gripping said gripping portion and manipulating said skirt; and

d. fastening means to fasten said sleeve to said skirt, said fastening means comprising a first thread on the inner surface of said sleeve and a cooperating second thread on the outer surface of said skirt, said second thread being located beneath said first thread when said sleeve is covering all of said gripping portion, said first and second thread being adapted to engage when said sleeve is simultaneously lifted and rotated with respect to said skirt.

3. A safety closure for an opening in a container comprising:

a. a cap to cover the opening of said container, said cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from said top wall, said skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining said opening, said skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface;

b. a shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of said skirt and covering said gripping portion;

c. securing means for releasably securing said cap to said container, said securing means being disengageable by gripping said gripping portion and manipulating said skirt; and

d. fastening means to fasten said sleeve to said skirt, said fastening means comprising a flange extending substantially around one of the inner surface of said sleeve and the outer surface of said skirt, said flange being interrupted to form a slot, and a projection on the other of said sleeve and said skirt; said projection lying underneath said flange when said sleeve is fastened to said skirt to such an extent that said projection remains underneath said flange when axial separating force is applied to said sleeve with respect to said skirt said projection being adapted to slide through said slot. 

1. A safety closure for an opening in a container comprising: a. a cap to cover the opening of said container, said cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from said top wall, said skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining said opening, said skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface; b. a shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of said skirt and covering said gripping portion; c. securing means comprising a second set of cooperating threads on the inner surface of said skirt and on the outer surface of the container wall defining said opening for releasably securing said cap to said container; and d. fastening means to fasten said sleeve to said skirt, said fastening means comprising a first set of cooperating threads on the inner surface of said sleeve and on the outer surface of said skirt, said first set of threads and said second set of threads being oriented such that rotation of said sleeve with respect to said skirt to expose said gripping portion must be in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said skirt with respect to said container to remove said cap.
 2. A safety closure for an opening in a container comprising: a. a cap to cover the opening of said container, said cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from said top wall, said skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining said opening, said skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface; b. a shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of said skirt and covering said gripping portion; c. securing means for releasably securing said cap to said container, said securing means being disengageable by gripping said gripping portion and manipulating said skirt; and d. fastening means to fasten said sleeve to said skirt, said fastening means comprising a first thread on the inner surface of said sleeve and a cooperating second thread on the outer surface of said skirt, said second thread being located beneath said first thread when said sleeve is covering all of said gripping portion, said first and second thread being adapted to engage when said sleeve is simultaneously lifted and rotated with respect to said skirt.
 3. A safety closure for an opening in a container comprising: a. a cap to cover the opening of said container, said cap having a top wall and a skirt depending from said top wall, said skirt being adapted to surround the container wall defining said opening, said skirt having a gripping portion on an outer surface; b. a Shielding sleeve for surrounding the outer surface of said skirt and covering said gripping portion; c. securing means for releasably securing said cap to said container, said securing means being disengageable by gripping said gripping portion and manipulating said skirt; and d. fastening means to fasten said sleeve to said skirt, said fastening means comprising a flange extending substantially around one of the inner surface of said sleeve and the outer surface of said skirt, said flange being interrupted to form a slot, and a projection on the other of said sleeve and said skirt; said projection lying underneath said flange when said sleeve is fastened to said skirt to such an extent that said projection remains underneath said flange when axial separating force is applied to said sleeve with respect to said skirt said projection being adapted to slide through said slot. 